The Object

On an icy winter night, Franklin was thinking about doing a spot of fishing in his favorite icy lake.

Franklin walked with Paul and John, who were in a relationship at the time. Paul and John could be said to be in their honeymoon phase. To stave off the cold they drank peppermint schnapps. Considering himself all the more manly than his friends, Franklin drank beer.

On the walk they talked of times long gone. They talked of their young adult hood, their first loves. Paul even talked of discovering himself, though Franklin really didn’t want to hear about it. Although accepting, he never came to terms with why or how someone would become so different. At the end of the day, they were still friends, and he was happy to have them around.

Walking past a small icy pond, they made it to the lake and tested the ice. Without worry, they could cross it. Fifty meters distance from the edge, they made it to the center. As Franklin looked back, he noticed a red light emanating from the small pond shining through the ice. He thought it to be an optical illusion at first. He watched as the light grew in intensity and faded. “Guys… Stay here, I’m just going to take a look at something,” Franklin said has he took the pick axe and started to make his way towards this small icy pond seemingly illuminated by a torch or something.

“Hey, don’t go too quickly… You know you’re always falling on your ass on these lakes,” Paul said as he turned to create a hole in the lake.

“He’s wearing spikes; he’ll be fine,” John said just before he took a swig of the schnaps. He was busy setting up the methylated spirits fireplace. Within the breeze it was becoming hard to use his frozen matches, but he was still capable of striking them. It didn’t take long to light the fire.

As Franklin approached the small iced over pond, he saw the light pulsing more clearly. There was something, some kind of device under the ice. Something hidden, or lost. Maybe left there. Franklin begun to chip away at the ice.

When a hole above the object was completed, he lunged his hand into the shallow waters and grasped the item. His hand now freezing, he placed the item in his pocket without giving it a second look, and all but ran back to the warmth of the fireplace. Franklin placed his hand over the flames in an attempt to warm it up. He placed his glove on a rod close enough to the fireplace to dry it out. “What the hell were you doing?” Paul said.

“Stupid stuff like that will give you frost bite,” John said.

“Yeah, but we have a fire. She’ll be right,” Franklin said, not overly concerned. “Besides I found this.” He pulled out the pulsing, glowing object from his pocket and for the first time realized it to be a necklace, but the light emanating from the jewelry was overly bright for something of its size. “Damn this is not natural.”

“Don’t be an idiot; you’ve seen how powerful these new light emitting diodes can be,” John said.

“Look at the size of the thing,” Franklin said.

“Whatever… I think I have a bite,” Paul said not thinking much of the situation.

Frank examined the item in the torchlight of his phone. It seemed when it wasn’t glowing it had a metallic sheen. It was smaller than a locket with a small chain made of a dark material. He tugged at the chain. “Don’t do that, you’ll break it. It’s probably worth something,” John said. Franklin tugged on it with all his strength.

“It won’t break,” Franklin said.

“Bull, hand it here,” Paul said as he took it from Franklin and proceeded to test its strength. “Now that’s impossible.” Paul placed the locket like object between his teeth and tested the metal, it gave slightly and returned to its form. Immediately the light stopped pulsing.

“I think you broke it,” Franklin said. For a moment the air was still then a wind blew seemingly out of nowhere. The air returned to normal, but there could now be seen a fog over the far side of the lake. “Was that there before?”

“It’s probably nothing,” John said. He cared more about catching trout than the object itself, or the weird occurrence.

“We should check it out,” Paul said as he gazed across the lake.

“I don’t know; this is freaking me out,” Franklin said as he considered the fact that his glove wasn’t dry. He was the kind of person to believe in the supernatural. “We should leave.”

“Do I hear a chicken, or is it just me,” John said.

“Brrrk, brrk brrrrrrrk,” Paul said.

“OK, but gust give me a second,” frank said as he reached for his glove, and placed it inside his jacket in the hope that the still wet glove would dry out. He left his now dry hand in his pocket.

They walked towards the fog like mist. When they were within ten meters the mist seemed to race toward them, engulfing them entirely. They could barely see each other from a few feet away. “This is not normal, we should get the hell out of here,” Franklin said.

“Haven’t you ever wanted to see something amazing? This is our chance,” John said as Paul looked troubled but followed his lead.

“Haven’t you ever seen a horror movie?” Frank said, not wanting any part in what the others seemingly thought to be an adventure.

“You know they’re fiction don’t you,” John said.

“You know murder is real. This stuff is straight out of The Shining,” Franklin said as he started walking in the other direction.

“I wouldn’t, you know what happens when people split up in horror movies,” Paul said. Franklin turned back.

“You should take out your phone, we might see something amazing,” John said. Franklin took out his phone.

“Battery’s dead; must have run out of charge,” Franklin said. John and Paul retrieved their phones.

“Wow, this is awesome!” John said where Paul shuddered. “And yours?”

“Dead as a door knob,” Paul said.

“Mine was at full charge,” John said as he laughed.

“We need to head back,” Frank said.

“Brrk-“

“NO! This is enough to scare the hell out of anyone,” Franklin protested.

“No one will believe us, not even with that chain. We need more proof,” John said.

“I’m with John on this one. We should stick together,” Paul said.

A horn sounded in the fog. “Now we know where to go,” John said.

“Seriously???” Franklin said instantly.

“No, he’s right, if they wanted us dead, we would be already,” Paul said.

They continued, some with trepidation, one with courage and almost fearlessness, regardless they proceeded. In time they saw a door protruding from the cracked ice on the edge of the lake. Similar to that of a hurricane shelter, but open with a ramp.

“Do we?” Paul said as he considered the situation.

“Why not, they’re welcoming us in,” John said.

“Or trying to trap us,” Franklin said.

“All for one,” John said as he swiftly moved over the ramp and through the door.

“Selfish bastard… I’m leaving,” Frank said.

“Please Franklin, It’s John,” Paul said.

“Yeah, it’s john who got us into this!” Franklin said.

“NO! You found the necklace; you got us into this,” Paul said.

“Are you coming,” John’s voice echoed from the faint glow of the stairs.

“Fine!” Franklin said.

They walked down the stairs the door closed behind them. “Hang on,” John said, “hand me that necklace.” John pressed on the object and the door opened once more. “See, nothing to worry about.”

“We’re not supposed to be here. That necklace was for someone else,” Franklin said. The others said nothing as they continued down a large spiral staircase that was now seemingly cut from the rock bed.

Eventually they made it to a large, open space that was lit as if with sunshine. There were a variety of Fauna, and flora, running streams and insects. The group were in awe. “It would be great if we could take a picture of this.” John said. They all instantly went for their phones, only one thought to try to turn it on. “It works!” John started snapping pictures.

In the distance a young man with grey hair stood watching them. As they approached, he faded from sight. A path lay between the scrubs, they followed it for a time as they took random photos.

Within a fraction of a second the group were surrounded as eight men with grey hair stood around them. It seemed they materialized out of nowhere. “What are you doing here? How did you enter?” One of the men said.

“We found this and sort of stumbled down here?” Paul said as the others while astounded said nothing. One of the men immediately took the device from them.

“You should not have this,” another man said with anger.

“What will you do with us?” Franklin said.

“We should kill you, but you’re a sentient species. You are lucky it’s against our law. We will simply send you back without memory of this,” the first man said.

“Please, this is amazing. You can’t do that,” John said while the others remained silent.

“You may choose to live with us, but you may never leave. We cannot trust the likes of you. Not yet,” one of the men said.

“I want to see more,” John said.

“Please John, think of me. Think of your family,” Paul said. Frank said nothing.

“Paul… My life is terrible. The only think keeping me here is you. Please come with me. I’m sure they can erase our minds and send us back if we ever choose to return.” The aliens nodded their heads. “Imagine what we could see. Imagine what we could know.”

“I’m sorry Paul. I didn’t know you felt that way. It makes me feel terrible,” Paul said as Franklin simply looked down.

“Please… Come with me. Stay with me,” John said.

“I can’t, it would hurt my family. I couldn’t stand it. I’m sorry.” Tears started to well within Paul’s eyes.

“You will be another missing person,” Franklin said.

“Nobody cares about me Franklin,” John said.

“WE CARE ABOUT YOU!” Paul said as he broke into tears. The aliens watched as the discussion took place.

“ENOUGH! I’ve made up my mind. Besides, some day I will return for you,” John said.

“I won’t wait for you! Come on Franklin,” Paul said as they both turned their back on John.

“Shall we go now?” Paul said to the aliens, to which they nodded their heads. Leaving Paul to whatever fate may hold for him, they proceeded down the path and up the stairs with four of the Nordic people. They proceeded out towards their fishing hole.

Once they arrived one of the Nordic people retrieved a device and simply waved it over their heads producing a semi-hypnotic state of which was broken the moment one of them said, “Catch anything?”

“No, not yet. Where did you guys come from?” Frank said.

“Where’s John,” Paul said.

To which they instantly replied, “don’t you remember? He went off to use the lavatory.” To which they immediately recalled a fake memory. “Well, I hope you guys catch what you came for. Come on boys, it’s getting cold. Let’s go home.” They left with no questions unanswered.

Moments later a text sounded from Paul phone. When he unlocked it, the pictures of John were still there. Puzzled he screamed for his lover, only to hear silence in return. A fleeting memory of John smiling within this sunny wilderness flooded into his mind. For some reason a bitter sweat memory, though he did not know why or how. He knew his lover to be fine, somehow, somewhere, he would be happy.